Discussion for article #235162
Slager first establishes that he was the one who was threatened. In his dispatch call he said that Scott was reaching for his Taser.
What’s ironic is that so many people are already treating this part as fact. It’s very well possible that Slager fumbled with and dropped the taser and then Mr. Scott fled. Slager may have then given chase and shot Mr. Scott.
The hundreds of people murdered by cops every year always seem to have this mythical lunging-and-wrestling skill that far exceeds most normal humans.
Yes, this is very similar to the idea that Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old school kid, was somehow the far superior MMA fighter than the guy who actually took MMA training classes for over a year and was training to be a police officer.
When questions arise after the latest case of police brutality and/or killing, most law enforcement units are quick to dig into the dead person’s background and release any damaging information.
This one happens every, fucking time. The most egregious was again in Trayvon Martin’s case where they picked apart photos to show that because he could look all hard in one photo, that somehow meant he was an out of control thug who needed to be taken down like a rabid animal. It happened with Eric Garner, Jordan Davis, Timothy Thomas, Reneisha McBride, etc. Even Harvard Prof. Henry Louis Gates got a small taste of that when he tried to break in his own home. He was painted as an uppity nigger who deserved to be arrested for the crime of uppitying while black.
BTW, this was a angering yet extremely well thought out and brutally honest piece. Thanks.
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Powerful analysis that brought tears to my eyes. I am so sick of this shit happening over and over and over again. And yet the majority of our society continues to live in this denial fantasyland believing that if the cops just use the same magical words each time to describe what happened, that of course must be the way that it really happened.
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I see the new funding site has raised $540. The money should go to his wife, who is certainly going to need it.
Yikes! Just read the top comment. Not everyone is feeling kindly toward Slager.
Agree with Plucky that this is very thought-provoking article…
for those who want to think.
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FYI even though the killer cop has been fired the PD has agreed to continue his health insurance until his 8-month pregnant wife gives birth. He doesn’t deserve consideration but the wife and child do.
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Yes, I saw that yesterday in the NYT article you posted. While it’s good that the police dept. is doing this, I couldn’t help thinking that this isn’t always done.
Probably no husband and no father for her children by the time this sad affair concludes. Too bad Mr. Slager didn’t consider them in all of this before he decided to start shooting. But he obviously thought he’d get away with it.
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In another forum on bad cops here the other day we concluded that those drawn to police work are authoritarians, and I guess the first blush of love and romance is not enough to dissuade an otherwise sensible woman from getting involved with someone who could go berserk…
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That linked thread to the anonymous police forum is enraging. Have they no shame?
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Indeed. She is 8 months pregnant. The police department said they would continue to provide medical insurance for her until the baby is born. After that, though, I guess she’s on her own.
I’ve said this for years…since police are employed by taxpayers and they are hired to protect the public, every single shooting must be investigated fully by the feds…sop! If this were implemented bad cops would think twice before gunning down anyone, black or white. What has really become sad and apparent is that there is no backlash growing from all the supposedly “good cops” so you have to wonder if there really are that many good ones.
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Getting involved with someone who could go berserk happens all the time. It even happens to men, but of course much more often to women, and with more dire results, generally.
I wouldn’t cite love and romance as the causes, exactly. I think it’s a lot more complicated, but tends to do with a woman’s life experiences with their fathers and others, cycles of violence, etc.
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If I killed someone like this cop did, I’m not sure I could live with myself. The cavalier attitude of planting evidence suggests that this sort of thing happens so often that they just don’t give it a second thought.
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A friend of mine who has three daughters has encouraged them to try to not get involved with someone in law enforcement. We’ve seen what happens when a rogue cop decides his partner is complicating his life or she’s trying to break up with him, and you’re probably aware of the infamous case in St. Augustine, Fla. where a cop’s girlfriend committed suicide with his gun. A tall blue wall went up around him.
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Why are police so zealous to ticket broken tail lights? Because politicians are afraid to raise taxes and prefer to squeeze exorbitant fines out of the poor. I suggest that we should say that Mr. Scott was “Norquisted” by the police.
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Hopefully, the fact that now (several days later) they have only raised $546 is indicative of this sort of behavior not being as acceptable as, say, not delivering pizzas to a gay wedding.
I suspect I’m wrong…
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I agree with every thing you have written. One troubling thought which I haven’t heard: The officer moved and functioned as if he had a high expectation of getting away with his actions. How could he have this expectation when he knew the medical examiner would determine the victim had been shot in the back and further knew it would not be reported?
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The author is fully trained to be a police union boss.
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…another campaign on IndieGoGo is going strong.
It sucks that it’s going at all, but at only $820 as of this posting, I wouldn’t use the word “strong”.
That is what is so corrupt about the current police leadership. He knew his actions wouldn’t be investigated. Somebody filmed it and the film got out before it could be buried by the supervisors who had his back.
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How many more?
Racists: “Until there are none left.”
“The police department said they would continue to provide medical insurance for her until the baby is born. After that, though, I guess she’s on her own.”
And then, horror of horrors, she’ll have to thank Obama for the ACA.
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